some examples of the kind; for God is not accustomed to hide His works of goodness and mercy, but rather to make them public to His own honor and praise. So that for you to have reasonable grounds to entertain the hope of receiving the same grace you must be able to refer to a number of cases in which it has been granted and is still granted. Because if one or another has had the luck to find a treasure, that is no reason for you to give up your business in the hope of becoming rich all at once, unless, indeed, you are a fool.
For no reasonable hope can rest on a few cases of the kind. Joseph was brought out of a prison and placed on the throne of Egypt; which of us will therefore go to Egypt among the Turks and allow himself to be chained and fettered in the hope of being promoted to some high dignity? Jonas was swallowed by a whale and thrown out again on the seashore fresh and vigorous; will any one of you throw himself into the sea in the hope of being saved from drowning in a similar manner? I certainly should not attempt it. Phalaræus, as Pliny relates, was suffering from a cancer in the head; maddened by the pain, he rushed into the middle of a fierce battle to end at once his miserable life; but an arrow happened to strike the wound and opened it, so that the poisonous matter escaped and freed him from his suffering. If one of you had a similar disease, would he run into the midst of a street broil, and rush upon the spears and swords, in the hope of being cured? I hardly think so; such conduct would be foolish. For that which occurs rarely cannot be taken as a general rule, and he who founds a hope on it is guilty of presumption.
The Scriptures give but one such example: the good thief. Now, O sinner! give me, if you can, an example of real conversion where repentance was deferred till the hour of death! How many such can you bring forward? St. Bernard has inquired most diligently into this matter, and yet he has found but one well-authenticated case, and that is the good thief on Calvary, the only instance of the kind in the history of the world. “There is one,” says St. Augustine; “do not despair; it is the only one, do not trust too presumptuously.”[1] There was one such case, but of such a nature that it ought to make you tremble. For, in what circumstances did the good thief obtain forgiveness? At the moment when his Creator was hanging by his side on the cross, and about to give up His life for the salvation of the world. Was it any wonder that Christ should then give
- ↑ Unus est, ne desperes; solus est, ne confidas.
